Improvement in hand fire-engines



UNITED STATES HENRY NEUMYER, OF MILLERSTOWN, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN HAND FIRE-ENGINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 158,229, dated January12, 1875; application filed J une 27, 1874.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY NEUMEYER, of Millerstown, in the `county ofLehigh and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Hand Fire-Engines, of which the following is aspecification:

The object of this invention is to furnish a cheap, durable, andeffect'rve hand fire-engine; and it consists of a tank and three, moreor less, single-acting force-pumps combined so as to throw a single andcontinuous stream of water from a hose-pipe. The invention furtherconsists in other details of construction and arrangement which will behereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure l is a vertical section lookin-g tothe left from the line :v a: of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical section ofFig. 1 on the line y y.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A is the tank, of suitable size, made of wood or metal, and water-tight,but open at the top. B represents the cylinders, three, more or less,which are attached by hinges to the bottom of the tank by means of earsO, extending from the bottom of the cylinders, the short stand D,attached to the bottom of the tank, and the rod E, substantially as seenin Fig. 1. F are the pistons; G, the piston-rods. Hare the foot-valves,which close the inlet-opening in the bottom of the cylinder. I arestop-valves, which hold the water in the hose. These valves work in thechambers J, and close the openings K through the inclined plates L.These valves close by their own gravity, and the chambers J are formedby the inclined valve-plate and the horizontal plates m, above whichthepistons work. N is a pipe connected with each of the chambers J.These pipes connect with the main hose 0, as seen in Fig. 1. P is thedriving-shaft, having a crank for the piston-rod of each cylinder. Theyare connected, as seen at Q. 0n one or both'of the ends of this shaft isa crank, R. This shaft is supported by stands S attached to the top ofthe tank, andl these stands are connected together by the stayrod T. Thecrank or cranks R are so constructed that, while connected with theshaft,

they may be slipped from the ends thereof and turned round into thetank, so as to be out of the way when they are not in use. For thispurpose I hinge them to the revolving elbows U, and make mortisesthrough them to secure the end of the shaft. The cranks are held on theends, as seen in Fig. 1, by pins; but when not in use they are slippedo' and turned inward, as seen at the left of the figure. V V are slidingmetallic bars on the ends of the tank confined to the tank by clips W,and heldin position by means of the cam-levers w x. These bars areconnected by a foot-piece, V, and when drawn out, as seen in Fig. 2, oneoperator stands with his right foot and the other with his left on theconnecting-bar, which holds the engine steady while the cranks areturned. y When not in use the foot-piece is shoved back under the engineout of the Way. Y is the nozzle of the hose-pipe.

When the crankshaft is revolved the cylin ders vibrate on the rod E, andaccommodate themselves to the motion of the cranks being vibrated by thepiston-rods, which pass through yokes Z on the top of the cylinders.

With this machine a continuous stream of water is thrown with a forceproportioned to the power applied.

This machine may be applied to other purposes if desired, as, forinstance, watering gardens and grounds, and for allsimilar p urposes.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent- 1. An engine for extinguishing fires and for otherpurposes, composed of the tank A, vibrating cylinderpum ps B,crank-shaft P, pipes N, hose O, and driving-cranks R, combined andarranged substantially as described.

2. The foot-piece, composed of the slides V V, connecting-bar V', andcam-levers x w, in combination with a fire-engine, substantially as andfor the purposes described.

3. The chambers J, in combination with the cylinders B, as and for thepurposes described.

HENRY NEUMEYER. Witnesses:

THEO. T. HINKLE, HORACE NEUMEYER.

